19 July 2008

The first Ferrero hazelnut and cocoa spread was created in the 1940s by a pastry maker called Pietro Ferrero (founder of the Ferrero company) in Piedmont, Italy. The product was known as "pasta gianduja", ("pasta" which means paste and "gianduja" which is the name of a carnival character famous to the region; this character can be found in the first advertisements for the product) This original form of the product was actually made in loaves and wrapped in tinfoil, so it could be sliced and placed on bread for mothers to make sandwiches for their children. Many children would throw away the bread and only eat the pasta gianduja! So Mr. Ferrero altered the product into a paste that could be spread on bread and packaged it in a jar. This version came to be known as "Supercrema gianduja" and was eventually renamed NUTELLA® in 1964.

We became victims to this brand while on vacation in Italy. It was everywhere and it was delicious. When we returned home from our trip, Nutella quickly made its way onto the shopping list and on our cupboards where it sits now, mostly empty!